In the machine of the co-pending application, onions are positioned against a horizontal rotating plate while knife blades carried by the plate remove slices from the onions. Although the onions are laterally restrained by fence means and vertically restrained by hold-down means, it is possible for a slicing blade to flip or throw an onion out of slicing position. A number of factors contribute to such a possibility, e.g.: the resiliency of the onion, particularly when it is cut down to a thickness of an inch or less; the failure of the pocket provided by the fence and hold-down means to adequately restrain the onion during slicing; the tendency of the hold-down means to tilt the onion as it is pushed into the cutting pocket; and the high impact which results from the guillotine action of the straight blade.